Townhall call today

Anonymous

Guest
If anyone was on the call today, wondering what the take-away messages were. Such as: did they mention a timeline in regard to possible reductions ?
did they speak to moving away from Diovan, samples,promotion ?
did they speak to how reductions may look, different parts of country etc ?
 






Reductions- yes, the share of voice model is no longer effective, we need to utilize alternative selling innovations in addition to reps (but we will always have reps).

Moving away from Diovan promotion, sampling- yes, yes

Timeline, number of bodies affected, what will it look like- nothing; implied that they haven't even begun to collect the parties who will craft the criteria that will be used to make those decisions (like it's a ways off).

They really seemed genuine and forthcomming about wanting to be transparent. And I commend them for that. The whole idea that they would bring up & essentially commit to layoffs months in advance seems very "old school" but someone was really pissed about this whole survey/communication thing, so maybe this is their pennance.

Take-away- Now you've been told, you just don't know when. Get things in order (I suspect same as last year- after Thanksgiving).
 






I was appreciative of the Town Hall Meeting. There was some transparency and at least some light shed on the issues ahead of us.....Who was the guy cracking jokes on stage? At least there was someone with a sense of humor!

I believe that they are not being transparent about the timeline because they want us to work our butts off. Why would they announce a date, then everyone will NOT work, biting their fingernails wondering if THEY will be the one let go!

Think about this - Last year Joe J announced there would be NO layoffs, then 2-3 weeks later there was a "stay by your phone date".....

Now today's Town Hall he states that it's a few months away until they know for certain....In my mind a few months away means THIS YEAR, not NEXT YEAR!!! Few Months away = a few weeks away in Joe J's vocabulary!!!
 






My f'n swiss francs are on wait by the phone SOON, before texturkey day (Thanksgiving). Gobble gobble everyone. The goose steppers will be leaving those employed, something to be thankful for.

Can the reps in cakun land (Louisiana) get a voo-dool of jack arse Joe made and stick needles and other things in it/him.
 






Seriously...it was a rah rah event...transparency ?...well maybe but is everyone forgetting about last year when they denied layoffs then turned around and did it anyway? My point, if it even really matters, how can Novartis really expect anyone to be motivated, increase sales, not worry blah blah blah when they really cannot be trusted. There is NO direction, no message, people don't know what to tell customers anymore in terms of product information. We get no guidance or information on what happening and how to work around it. If you question what we are "told" to do you are branded "not engaged" even if it's a simple question. We cannot hit our goals, don't even know what we are being paid on or how it was figured out. if ANYONE is listening Novartis has to fix all this. they won't. so we will all just go through the motions. Not ideal but what are we supposed to do? Aside from "go out and sell" there needs to be some direction some clarity some reasonable attainable goals. Fix the V&B 's. Things are to subjective. It's all a joke. Whatever will be will be but those left around will need some motivation besides the fact they are still employees if Novartis wants to accomplish anything.
 












In their transparency, Novartis announced today at the Town Hall Meeting that there will in fact be cuts made to the sales force. I appreciate this transparent approach and commend Novartis for their efforts especially when in the past they failed miserably in the area of communication.

So now what? Do we continue on with our business as though we may be the chosen lucky few who are still standing in 2014 when the dust settles from the next 2 very tumultuous years or do we become essentially frozen by the fear of the unknown? Do we spend the next several weeks/months guessing at how Novartis and this external company will make the decision as to who stays/who goes? Will a "1" on last years performance review be looked at, will age/tenure be weighted? Will they use the DAM, the edge, WPT, WLT and TAN ( all of which do not add up) to determine who is a star performer? Will our relationships with customer's/managers and teammates be factored in? Will they spin the wheel of fortune/wheel of misfortune to determine our fates?

For many of us this is another "here we go again" moment at Novartis. We have given up our mornings, evenings, weekends and holiday's to show our comittment in driving sales and developing customer relationships. We have watched good/excellent reps be downsized/fired and relocated ( remember when reps had to drive 2-3 hours before they even got into territory). We have watched our sales cycle change, our bonus payouts shrink and our products change when the wind blows in a different direction. In almost all of these instances we did not have a choice, nor a voice.

We again do not have a choice when they make their decisions on who will be let go and who will stay. Each of us must take a look at ourselves and determine how to proceed with the information that we learned today. This news can immobilize us, keep us up at night, cause a great deal of stress. Or, this news can calm us. Life continues on as we know it and we hope for the best. Or, this news can motivate us to start looking at other career options/other companies where our talents can be utilized.

Whatever the case may be, one thing is certain. Life will go on in pharmaceuticals with or without us.
 






Both Baert and Wyss were quoted in saying that the cost reduction plan has begun and it was too early to define what that looks like, and, that we should know more in a few months.
What does that mean? Feb or March timeframe. That's when I would pressure our Manager's for more updates.
 






a few months away folks.... look for lay-offs in Feb/Mar after year-end reviews. not as big as last November, but definitely cuts to come before next fall!

I definitely think this is right on. Don't think it will be this yearl. Thats why they cancelled the national meeting to regionals and will have a national meeting after the layoffs which probably will be March/April time frame(towards the end of the trimester)
I think most pods will be 3-4 people
 






a few months away folks.... look for lay-offs in Feb/Mar after year-end reviews. not as big as last November, but definitely cuts to come before next fall!

Does it really matter. You know it's coming so I guess you have a choice...sit around and wait or begin looking for another job. If you need your income to live on younger stupid to sit around and wait...if you don't then you may as well wait until they pay you to leave. Whatever the situation it's your decision. So you make it through this round, what about the next, and the next...it's the industry. Novartis is reactive not proactive which hurts us. Really no one knows what will happen and when it will happen but it's easier to find a job when you are employed then when you are not...take money and and put it away so a pay cut will not be as bad. Get used to living with less, we all can.
 






In their transparency, Novartis announced today at the Town Hall Meeting that there will in fact be cuts made to the sales force. I appreciate this transparent approach and commend Novartis for their efforts especially when in the past they failed miserably in the area of communication.

So now what? Do we continue on with our business as though we may be the chosen lucky few who are still standing in 2014 when the dust settles from the next 2 very tumultuous years or do we become essentially frozen by the fear of the unknown? Do we spend the next several weeks/months guessing at how Novartis and this external company will make the decision as to who stays/who goes? Will a "1" on last years performance review be looked at, will age/tenure be weighted? Will they use the DAM, the edge, WPT, WLT and TAN ( all of which do not add up) to determine who is a star performer? Will our relationships with customer's/managers and teammates be factored in? Will they spin the wheel of fortune/wheel of misfortune to determine our fates?

For many of us this is another "here we go again" moment at Novartis. We have given up our mornings, evenings, weekends and holiday's to show our comittment in driving sales and developing customer relationships. We have watched good/excellent reps be downsized/fired and relocated ( remember when reps had to drive 2-3 hours before they even got into territory). We have watched our sales cycle change, our bonus payouts shrink and our products change when the wind blows in a different direction. In almost all of these instances we did not have a choice, nor a voice.

We again do not have a choice when they make their decisions on who will be let go and who will stay. Each of us must take a look at ourselves and determine how to proceed with the information that we learned today. This news can immobilize us, keep us up at night, cause a great deal of stress. Or, this news can calm us. Life continues on as we know it and we hope for the best. Or, this news can motivate us to start looking at other career options/other companies where our talents can be utilized.

Whatever the case may be, one thing is certain. Life will go on in pharmaceuticals with or without us.

don't forget, this is a Swiss company, not an American one. They don't care about us.
 












I definitely think this is right on. Don't think it will be this yearl. Thats why they cancelled the national meeting to regionals and will have a national meeting after the layoffs which probably will be March/April time frame(towards the end of the trimester)
I think most pods will be 3-4 people

My Swiss Francs are on a March layoff, right before the National Meeting in April. There's no way Novartis will want to pay for airfare/hotel/accommodations for hundreds of reps only to lay them off a few months later... The Swiss may be cheap, but they're not stupid...

Also count on us only having 2 reps for most POD's, with a few higher potential territories keeping 3. It doesn't make sense to keep 3 or more reps with Diovan/Reclast going generic, Arcapta going to Xolair reps and Ilaris delayed...
 






My Swiss Francs are on a March layoff, right before the National Meeting in April. There's no way Novartis will want to pay for airfare/hotel/accommodations for hundreds of reps only to lay them off a few months later... The Swiss may be cheap, but they're not stupid...

Also count on us only having 2 reps for most POD's, with a few higher potential territories keeping 3. It doesn't make sense to keep 3 or more reps with Diovan/Reclast going generic, Arcapta going to Xolair reps and Ilaris delayed...


With the dollars generated by TEK and the REE products, I could see us going to 2 reps per territory and increasing the size of the territories. The initial launch of Arcapta is going to the Xolair reps, but at some point there will be a PC launch and that should go to the PC sales force (at least that was the last plan I heard). If that does happen, they would probably re-cut the territories anyway to go from a CV focused territory to a COPD focused territory.
 






WAKE UP! Arcapta is going nowhere. In Gen Meds, there will only be one rep per territory per product and the territories will be large. That is the future.

If you are currently in Gen Meds or Neuro you are at risk. It CAN happen to you. You really are just a number - although I have been told the DMs and RDs have some say in who stays and goes this time. Look around you and if your counterparts have better ratings, live geographically in the center of the territory or at a higher level than you, you are the odd man/women out.

Get your plan B together and start interviewing other companies that have strong pipelines or that have products in the growth phase of the product lifecycle. Hope you latch on before severance runs out.

Novartis is dead for the next 3-4 years. it is just the way it is.
 






WAKE UP! Arcapta is going nowhere. In Gen Meds, there will only be one rep per territory per product and the territories will be large. That is the future.

If you are currently in Gen Meds or Neuro you are at risk. It CAN happen to you. You really are just a number - although I have been told the DMs and RDs have some say in who stays and goes this time. Look around you and if your counterparts have better ratings, live geographically in the center of the territory or at a higher level than you, you are the odd man/women out.

Get your plan B together and start interviewing other companies that have strong pipelines or that have products in the growth phase of the product lifecycle. Hope you latch on before severance runs out.

Novartis is dead for the next 3-4 years. it is just the way it is.

You have been "told" that the DM's and MD's have a say in the matter. Thats a bunch of BS.
There jobs are on the line as well. It never has happened before and it won't happen
They will go thru the same process where they use ZS or another consulting company and all the variables are layed out and put in a computer. Plain and simple. There is no other way to do it to avoid the lawsuits.
 






Why are we all wasting our time questioning the stupid details- the only thing that matter is WHEN!!!!

There's no way they made that announcement without some framework of a timeline... someone needs to step & REALLY be transparent and tell us.

Spill-
 






You are so right. It is about when. When the f*@#$ are they going to let us go...ooops I mean let us know when we will be let go. When? How many? and What will we all be selling if we make the final cut? How many reps at this point are really going to go out and put in their best effort?
 






Why are we all wasting our time questioning the stupid details- the only thing that matter is WHEN!!!!

There's no way they made that announcement without some framework of a timeline... someone needs to step & REALLY be transparent and tell us.

Spill-

If you sell gilynia you are golden... Oh please ms tell us how?!!! Especially the Midwest team that loves to fake calls
 







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